Page 3250 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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Mr Smyth interjecting—
MS BURCH: I can table this letter, Madam Deputy Speaker, and Mr Smyth can either deny his opposition to helping with youth homelessness or he can stand on that letter and we will know where the hypocrisy and the shame rest.
As vulnerable as short-term shelter is, it does not address the problems that lead to homelessness. Forming a relationship through long-term engagement is needed, and having appropriately skilled teams to provide that support is of great importance in assisting people who are sleeping rough. It is only in this way that the cause of homelessness for each person can be addressed.
The ACT government has a longstanding commitment to providing support to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the ACT, through funding specialist homelessness services run by experienced community sector organisations. The government has shown this by implementing a range of measures aimed at addressing homelessness, including the establishment of the street to home program and support for the early morning drop-in centre. Both of these services particularly target those sleeping rough in our community.
The street to home program provides assertive outreach, with the aim of working with people sleeping rough, to address underlining causes of homelessness and assist people to move into stable accommodation when the time is right for them. This program was initially funded in 2010 through the national partnership agreement on homelessness, with $850,000 invested over approximately three years. Building on the success of that program, we committed an additional $240,000 to expand that program. The program has also recently been provided with a number of Housing ACT properties to meet the immediate accommodation needs of people sleeping rough.
The street to home program provides crisis and long-term accommodation options within a supported environment. This is assisting chronically homeless people to move off the streets faster and to work towards addressing the underlying issues that may have contributed to them becoming homeless in the first place.
The ACT government has also invested $680,000 for the refurbishment of the Early Morning Centre, which provides warm food and shelter for the homeless during the day. The refurbished centre now provides shower and locker facilities and assists in linking homeless people to further supports as required.
The safe shelter proposal could very well complement other programs currently supported by the ACT government that assist people in our community who are experiencing homelessness. When the safe shelter groups first spoke to me about their plans last year, I encouraged them to work through the Community Services Directorate and ACTPLA and also to consider who they were targeting, particularly in light of the fact that the face of homelessness in the ACT is women and their children escaping domestic violence.
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